Suspect arrested in deaths of Chinese herbalist, spouse and infant in California

Investigators are still trying to determine why popular business associate may have killed Dr Weidong Henry Han in triple murder

A business associate of a popular practitioner of Chinese herbal medication was arrested on Friday in connection with what California authorities tell was the horrific slaying of the herbalist, his wife and their five-year-old daughter.

This was a diabolical, pre-meditated crime, one of the most odious that I have ever been involved with, told Santa Barbara County sheriff Bill Brown.

Pierre Haobsh, 27, of Oceanside, was taken into detention at gunpoint at a gas station in San Diego County, Brown told, adding that investigators with an apprehend warrant had been following a red Lexus that belonged to Haobsh. A loaded handgun and property are subordinate to one of child victims was found inside the car, the sheriff said.

Deputies who went to check on the welfare of 57 -year-old Dr Weidong Henry Han on Wednesday procured the authorities of family physicians, his 29 -year-old wife, Huijie Jenni Yu, and the couples five-year-old daughter, Emily, in the familys multimillion-dollar home on the suburbs of Santa Barbara.

Their bodies were found shoot, wrapped in plastic and duct-taped in the garage, a sheriffs statement told. They had last been assured the night before.

Brown said investigators were still trying to determine why the family was killed, but they believe Haobsh was lately involved in a business deal with Han and financial gain could have been involved.

This investigation is far from over, Brown told. It is complex and ongoing.

Two business associates of Han went to his home after he failed to show up for a meeting something they told authorities was highly uncharacteristic. The associates called authorities when they found the front doorway ajar and the familys vehicles parked outside.

Authorities didnt say what led them from the palatial two-story home that sits on seven acres surrounded by avocado trees to the Oceanside area, where Haobsh was arrested, more than 170 miles to the south.

Haobsh is a US citizen, authorities told, but few other details were released.

The killings shocked Santa Barbara, where Han, who owned and operated the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic, was a popular figure.

The couples daughter was a kindergartener at Foothill Elementary School in the Goleta Unified school district, where counselors were made available to her classmates and their parents.

It is impossible to express the tremendous pain that this situation presents to us, superintendent William Banning said in a statement.

Han had owned and operated the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic since 1991, according to the clinics website. Public records indicate he was a licensed acupuncturist.

A biography on his website said he earned degrees in oriental and western medication from a Beijing university in 1982, graduating among the priorities of his class. He moved to the US a few years later, to examine psychology.

Han came from a family of Chinese the physicians and traditional therapies including acupuncture, acupressure and herbal formulas from an on-site Chinese pharmacy.

He was co-author of the book Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine, and was working on a volume about how to integrate Chinese and western medication. At the clinic, he created individualized herbal formulas for each patient.

Not merely is he going to be missed by me personally and professionally, but this community is going to miss him incredibly. He was the man, told Dr Glenn Miller, a psychiatrist who co-authored Ancient Herbs, Modern Medicine and considered Han one of his closest friends.

Patients we share would talk about how in the true sense of the word he was a healer, in that he would listen to the wholeness of his patients, told Miller, who choked up several times as he spoke. He told Han wanted his patients healed both physically and emotionally.

A somber recording on the clinics voicemail said the facility was closed on Friday, but people would be there to greet those who wanted to express their condolences.

Our doors will be open for you to honor, pay respects and celebrate the lives of Dr Henry Han, his wife, Jenni, and daughter Emily. They truly were special, the recording said.